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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22376320">With souls like broken ceramics fixed with gold (a gold-titanium alloy, that is)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ideasofmarch/pseuds/Ideasofmarch'>Ideasofmarch</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Author is Bitter, Civil War Team Iron Man, Endgame who?, F/M, Happy Ending, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Steve Rogers is Not a Virgin, The Author Regrets Nothing, Tony goes to therapy, and like do what i want, because he's my boi and here i can ignore canons pleas, i don't know her, loki lived bitch, not team Cap friendly</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-01-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-01-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 01:21:24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,302</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22376320</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ideasofmarch/pseuds/Ideasofmarch</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony wakes up after Siberia.</p><p>He didn't know what he was expecting - but it wasn't this.</p><p>-</p><p>basically Tony gets the love and support we all know he needs after the traumatizing experience of being betrayed by a friend and subsequently getting your chest smashed in. </p><p>(I did, in fact, watch endgame but the medallion said thats dumb so we're not going to do that)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Loki/Stephen Strange, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>92</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1779</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Post-Civil War Media Fallout (Team Iron Man), Team Iron Man/Anti Steve, Tony Stark Defense Squad I, Tony Stark is more than a doormat, ellie marvel fics - read, superhero tingz</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>With souls like broken ceramics fixed with gold (a gold-titanium alloy, that is)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Look, theres a shortage of team iron man fics and i blasted through all of them - the only solution was to write my own. So here ya'll are, theres not actually a lot involving the rouges, more just people dealing with the consequences of their general presence.<br/>Enjoy !!<br/>- IdeasOfMarch</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Tony didn’t exactly know what he expected when he woke up after Siberia.</p><p>He wasn’t even sure he was expecting to wake up – period.</p><p>All he remembered was Steve – <em>Rogers</em>, he wasn’t Steve anymore – slamming the shield – his <em>father’s</em> shield – into his chest again, and again, and again. And Tony had been grateful for it because it was could’ve been his neck, it <em>almost was</em>. He remembered the pain and he remembered the cold. He vaguely recalled vision showing up and dragging his body out of the destroyed suit – and then – then he remembered darkness.</p><p>When he finally did wake up nearly five months had passed.</p><p>According to FRIDAY he’d spent two in cryosleep and the other three in a medically induced coma while Dr Cho fixed whatever damage he’d done to his body.</p><p>Tony Stark had woken up in a secret hospital in fuck-knows-where Tennessee and, for the first time in ten years, he’d taken a deep breath. It hurt like hell – a stupid burning sensation caused by the stretching of his newly healed intercostal muscles – but he could <em>breath</em>.</p><p>Apparently Dr Cho had teamed up with Dr Strange – an old friend from way back when all Tony was was a genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. Tony had been worried sick when Strange had dropped off the fucking grid after a career ruining car crash, then Stephen resurfaced as a Sorcerer – don’t even get him <em>started</em> on that front – and Tony had <em>meant</em> to follow up, but between the civil war and the accords, well, he just never got around to it.</p><p>Lack of contact aside Stephen had still stepped in with his medical and magical knowledge. Him and Cho had practically rebuilt his entire chest. Magic was apparently good with tissue but not so great with bones – that in and of itself was an issue that Tony very, very badly wanted to research, but he was healing and had therefore had been banned from research curtesy of the lovely Dr Cho – so his ribcage was more mechanical than biological, but his <em>lungs</em> –  god, they were whole again.</p><p>Every breath he took was just as shocking as the last. He wondered if he’d ever get used to breathing like a normal person.</p><p>They’d also injected Tony with a mild version of the extremis serum, just slightly more than the dosage that ran through Peppers veins. They hadn’t wanted to, but the intensive operations and regrowth wouldn’t have been possible otherwise. It’s also why they kept him in cryosleep for so long – so they could stabilise the formula and not have him explode right after they saved his life.</p><p>Now Tony was awake, sore and wheezing with the exertion of pushing himself into a sitting position, but feeling better than he had in years, grimly ready to face whatever the public was probably throwing at him for getting Captain America kicked out of America.</p><p>Pepper had this look on her face, though, when she handed him a Stark pad – he’d been given permission to catch up with what was going on in the world, strictly no work allowed – it was almost a smirk.</p><p>When he’d first woken up Pepper had been passed out at his side, her suit crumpled, hair a mess, and her hand clutching his like a life line – it had been the most ruffled he’d ever seen her. There’d been… a lot more crying – from both of them – then he was strictly comfortable with. But there was also a lot of kisses and I love you’s and I’m never letting you go again’s, so Tony kind of thought it was a fair enough trade.</p><p>Then Rhodey had wheeled in, and then Tony was crying again and swearing that he’d <em>get his brother back on his feet so help him God.</em></p><p>Someone had alerted Peter, who’d flung himself into the room with all the grace Tony had come to expect from the spider, Harley trailed in behind him – and oh dear god, who introduced <em>those</em> <em>two</em>? – with a scowl and a warning to ‘Never do that again or I’ll kill you myself’.</p><p>The other two Keeners walked into the room a minute later, Abigale with a cup of coffee and her daughter Ariel running in with balloons in hand, managing to squeeze Tony into a group hug moments before Vision had phased into the room holding a startled looking Happy.</p><p>None of them had left the room until a nurse – lovely women, her name was Marie – had shooed them out six hours later with a rolled up newspaper and a glare.</p><p>It’s been a week since then.</p><p>Like he’d said, Tony didn’t know what he expected after Siberia.</p><p>Hate? Scorn? Indifference at the very least.</p><p>Whatever it was – it wasn’t <em>this</em>.</p><p>
  <em>Overwhelming support for Stark and the accords.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>78% of the world are pro accords and so are we.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Why the Sokovia accords are important.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>50 Captain America fuck ups they tried to cover up.</em>
</p><p> Tony snorted at that last one, <em>thank</em> you buzzfeed. Almost every other article he checked were just like those. Of course, every now and again some die-hard Captain America article would pop up. But even if he wasn’t biased he’d be able to tell how full of shit they were. It was all ‘He’s Captain America’ this and ‘he punched Nazis that’ and ‘he is the epitome of justice’ blah blah blah’.</p><p>He wasn’t sure – because no matter how tech savvy he was, Tony was still a <em>forty year old man</em> – but he was pretty certain that people had been making memes about Rogers.</p><p>“These are real?”</p><p>Pepper nodded and smiled, it was sadder than a smile had any right to be, “People are on your side, Tony.”</p><p>“But… how?”</p><p>“You can thank your interns for that.”</p><p>“Peter and Harley?”</p><p>“Mhmm,” she pulled out the chair by his bed and took her regular seat, “They kept making noise about all the good things you’ve done, and all the horrible things <em>they</em> did, got all their friends in on it too. Some reporter took note of it – and then another and well, you know how it goes. After about two months every news station you can think of was digging up the truth.”</p><p>“The people love having someone to hate.” Tony murmured.</p><p>“And your boys made sure it was Rogers.”</p><p>“It probably helped that Germany and Lagos were out for their blood.”</p><p>“But they probably would have let it slide if the boys hadn’t incited public outrage.” Pepper took his hand, “Face it, Tony, you’re the medias darling.”</p><p>Tony blinked, “This has literally never happened in my entire life.”</p><p>“If it helps, I’m fairly certain Peter and Harley black mailed some people to make it happen.”</p><p>Perhaps blackmailing was not a quality to take pride in, but Tony had never claimed to be the paragon of morality, <em>unlike some people</em>,  “Can I adopt them?”</p><p>Pepper snorted, “Ask their legal guardians.”</p><p>“You know I’m gonna ask.”</p><p>“I know.” She answered simply.</p><p>“You think you’d still want to date a single father?”</p><p>“I think I’d rather <em>marry</em> a single father.”</p><p>And then Tony’s brain short circuited.</p><p>“you… what?”</p><p>Pepper pulled a ring box out of her pocket, popping it open to reveal a thin golden band with a red diamond inlayed.</p><p>The colours matched his suit perfectly.</p><p>“It was my grandfathers. He used to tell me that my grandma gave it to him on their second date and told him to keep it safe for ‘pepper’” She pulled it out of its resting place, spinning it once between her fingers before offering it to Tony, “Grandma died years before I was born, I like to think it means we’re meant to be.”</p><p>Tony was still stuck on the first sentence, “You want to… marry me?”</p><p>“Yeah,” Pepper smiled, “I do.”</p><p>“Yes… yes, Pepper, yes. I love you. Yes.” Tony was <em>not</em> crying – <em>he</em> <em>wasn’t</em>. “Do I have to put it on myself?”</p><p>With an airy laugh, she slipped the ring on his finger and he’d never felt more right.</p><p> </p><p>In the weeks after his recovery – or, more accurately, the moment Dr Cho relented to his endless begging and allowed him back into his labs – Tony had been busy.</p><p>The braces he’d made for Rhodey were working splendidly. The physical therapy was still a thing they had to do, but it was okay because they were doing it together. Tony himself still needed a lot of help readjusting to having a somewhat functioning body. Most days Rhodey could spend upwards of eight hours on his feet – and it was only getting better every day.</p><p>The braces had inspired a whole line of prosthetics from Stark industries. Pepper was absolutely delighted with the plans he’d shown her. It would be a while before they could be mass produced – he’d definitely need to get some people trained in how to connect the prosthetics to the person – but when they did, well, Tony was probably going to change the world,</p><p>Again.</p><p>An offhanded comment – more like a gruff mutter, actually – from peters friend Michelle inspired a world wide go green project. Tony poured literal billions into it – from the reports they could expect to see changes in the global carbon dioxide levels as soon as a couple of months from now.</p><p>He’d also done it completely transparently – also at Michelle’s behest. Showing the world exactly where his money was going and why. A couple of bloggers and low level interns who actually managed to get through the dense document then saved him a lot of effort and summed it up to everyone else.</p><p>His approval ratings were the highest they’d ever been, wedding planning was going smooth, Harley and his family had moved into Stark tower, the accords were changing for the better with every revision, May Parker no longer hated him…</p><p>He hardly even <em>cared</em> about the ex-vengers anymore.</p><p>They say the best revenge was letting go and living well.</p><p>He didn’t know so much about the letting go part but –</p><p>
  <em>Tony was going to live so damn well it hurt.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Hello there king kitty.” Tony was leant sideways on his chair, about a hairs breadth from falling right out of it. His hair and face was splashed with oil and he hadn’t changed his shirt in the last thirty two hours. He had half a mind to tell the king to hold on a minute so he could go get more presentable.</p><p>On the other side of a holographic phone call sat King T’challa, looking exhausted but overall less terrible than Tony.</p><p>The King nodded at his greeting, “Dr Stark, thank you for taking my call.”</p><p>“If you can hack into this number you deserve at least a hello.” Tony raised one dirty eyebrow, “Though I’m guessing this was the work of your genius little sister I’ve heard so much about.”</p><p>“Aha!” A female voice shouted from somewhere in front of T’challa, “You see, brother, even <em>Tony Stark</em> has heard of me.”</p><p>“<em>Shuri</em>.” The king hissed but before he could say anything else he was being pushed out of the frame and a girl had taken his place.</p><p>“Dr Stark, a pleasure to meet you.”</p><p>“Princess Shuri. It is an honour to meet a young mind as bright as yours. Are you too old for a play date?”</p><p>Shuri tilted her head, “Who with?”</p><p>“My kids.”</p><p>“You have children?!” Tony almost laughed with how her eyes widened comically.</p><p>“Not biologically, no, but they’re as good as. They’re brilliant, I think the three of you would be great friends.”</p><p>Shuri looked off and down to her left, where Tony presumed T’challa was still lying on the floor, “Do you hear that, brother, I’m going on a trip to America. Maybe this time I can get Starbucks.”</p><p>“Don’t worry about that, princess.” Tony laughed, “We’ve got one in the building.”</p><p>“Shuri,” T’challa’s voice sounded tired, “If I allow this… play date, will you leave me to my call?”</p><p>“Of course.”</p><p>“Then it’s allowed. Be gone.”</p><p>“Bye Dr Stark.” Shuri waved and Tony nodded back.</p><p>“I am… sorry for my sisters interruption, Dr Stark.” He said once he’d gotten back into his seat.</p><p>“It’s fine, I meant what I said, it’s an honour to meet a fellow genius. Now, what did you need?”</p><p>“You know that I’ve taken on a few, uh, house guests?”</p><p>“Ah, having some problems with the kids?” Tony smiled bitterly.</p><p>“Dr Stark you must know that I didn’t mean to harbour them.”</p><p>“I figured,” Tony shrugged, “Your honour or whatever demanded you offer help to Barnes and Rogers assumed you meant him as well.”</p><p>“Your genius was no exaggeration, Dr Stark.” T’challa huffed, “Rogers stole a plane and I thought that was the end of it. He returned a day later with all his little… friends.”</p><p>“And now you don’t know what to do with them.”</p><p>“No,” he sighed, “They must stay here, where they are contained. You know just as well as I do that any prison would not hold them. In Wakanda, at least, they do not even think to escape.”</p><p>“Then what –“</p><p>“How did you deal with them for years?”</p><p>Tony blinked, “What?”</p><p>T’challa hesitated, “I – I wish to offer my condolences for suffering through years of what I am now going through”</p><p>“I’m sorry. You hacked your way through a billion dollar AI to tell me ‘I feel your pain’?”</p><p>“Dr Stark. I am the king of my nation and they treat me like I am nothing more than a – what do you call it? – ATN machine.”</p><p>“ATM.” Tony corrected softly.</p><p>T’challa waved a hand, “Yes that. I have lost count of the times the Dora milaje have put one of them in the infirmary due to their disrespect. I can only imagine how they treated <em>you</em>.”</p><p>“Peppers trying to get me into therapy about it.”</p><p>“You should go.”</p><p>“Yeah,” he sighed, “Pep’s usually right about these sort of things – and, well, most things really. Anything else, your highness?”</p><p>“I was wondering, perhaps, if I could extend a hand of friendship.”</p><p>“To me?”</p><p>“No, to the bots in your lab.”</p><p>U whirled in excitement and Tony shot T’challa a look. “Look what you’ve done.”</p><p>“Sorry,” he said, but he was laughing.</p><p>Tony waved him off, “Yeah, yeah. Kitty cat, we’re friends.”</p><p>“Good. I will be calling you to complain about them, I hope you know that.”</p><p>“I would expect nothing less.”</p><p>“And I’ll send my sister around next week?”</p><p>“I’ll let my boys know.”</p><p>“Good bye then, Dr Stark.”</p><p>“Until next time, Puss in boots.”</p><p> </p><p>It was all fun and games until some dumbass senator brought up pardons for the rouge Avengers.</p><p>Tony had been, quite honestly, the happiest he’d been in forever.</p><p>The accords were finally through the preliminary phases, instead of monthly revisions they’d all agreed to meet either once a year or in a time of crisis. Super humans were crawling out of the cracks all over the world, eager to sign on now that it was deemed safe.</p><p>Tony was registered under Rhodey’s team – along with spiderman, vision, and, occasionally Pepper, when she was up to it. The military were apparently training three new candidates to take over as the falcons – when they were ready they’d also fall under Rhodey’s command.</p><p>Pepper and Tony had two gorgeous weddings. One huge, public shebang that was broadcasted worldwide. And another, quieter affair, with only their close friends and family invited. Pepper took Tony’s breath away both times – and a hundred reporters got close up photos of him all but sobbing when he first caught a glimpse of Pepper at the end of the isle.</p><p>So yeah, things were <em>great</em>.</p><p>And then Thor came crashing in with news of a mad titan with an army and <em>Tony</em> <em>had told them so</em>. He’d screamed it to the heavens and they’d called him fucking crazy but here was the proof he’d been right all along.</p><p>The accords council called a meeting and then preparations were in full swing. According to Thor they had a year – a year and a half at most. Weapons were being made and people were being trained. Military enlistment worldwide skyrocketed.</p><p>The Asgardian refugees were travelling the world to give free sword fighting lessons to anyone who wanted to learn.</p><p>Then someone brought up needing every able body they could have.</p><p>Two years – that’s what he’d gotten. Two years free of his so called team – and now they’d be coming back on ‘conditional pardons’. Tony scowled even thinking about it. The rouges would have to sign the accords and everything – but they were still being welcomed back with open arms – at least, they were by the government.</p><p>Tony’s one consolation was that literally everyone else seemed to disagree with the pardons.</p><p>Just the other day some old women had came up to him while he and Pepper were taking an afternoon stroll.</p><p>“Tony Stark?’</p><p>“Uh, yes ma’am? Can I help you?”</p><p>“Now, I’ve lived through a lot. But what they’re doing isn’t right, no sir. It just isn’t right.” She shook her head.</p><p>“I – what?”</p><p>“These pardons they’ve issued. It’s no better than when we pardoned Nazi’s so we could use their research. You don’t deserve that, honey.”</p><p>Tony was fairly certain he’d thanked her – but it was just as likely that he’d stared at her with his jaw on the floor. People defending him, even if it’d been going steady for two years now, still always seemed to manage to surprise him.</p><p>The conversation still made him smile.</p><p> </p><p>“Tony.” Rogers said, he said it with relief and gratitude and a hundred other things that were so misplaced Tony was actually worried for him.</p><p>The rouges had stepped of the Wakandan jet with their heads held high and a kind of pride that pissed him off. They probably – scratch that, <em>definitely</em> – assumed that the pardons meant they were in the right all along.</p><p>At the very least they expected things to go back to normal, back to the way things were before the so called Civil war. Tony had never been so pleased to dissuade someone of an assumption in his life.</p><p>“Mr Rogers,” Tony greeted coolly, back ramrod straight and his sunglasses firmly in front of his eyes. “Mr Wilson. Mr Barton. Ms Maximoff. Mr Lang.”</p><p>“Tony.” He said again, this time with disappointment and disapproval and it was almost like old times. Tony really didn’t miss it at all.</p><p>“Right this way,” Tony turned and started walking, it made him nervous, showing them his back like this – God knows there’s more than enough stab wounds in there – but he’d be damned if he let them see his fear, “I’ll show you to meeting hall four and leave you in the capable hands of Agent Anita Sheffield, she’ll be your handler.”</p><p>Barton sneered, an ugly expression that barely affected Tony, “Too high and mighty to show us around yourself, Stark? Are we not important enough to warrant your time?”</p><p>“As a matter of fact, no. No you are not.” Tony didn’t stop to look at them, keeping a steady pace as he navigated the frankly confusing maze that was the avengers compound.</p><p>He’d sold the entire place to the government the moment the whispers of pardons became concrete. If they wanted the rouges back they could deal with the consequences and the pitfalls themselves – no amount of begging from president Ellis was going to get Tony to take them back.</p><p>Without Tony footing the bill most of the enormous building had fallen into a state of disrepair. The government maintained what they needed and let the rest rot. Even the bits they were using weren’t really up to snuff.</p><p>Every other corner he looked in was rife with cobwebs or dust bunnies, and the walls sorely need a new coat of paint.</p><p>“Dr Stark.” Anita smiled as he opened the door, ushering the rouges in while refusing to step past the door way himself. “Thank you for delivering my charges.”</p><p>“No problem, Agent Sheffield.”</p><p>“Ms Sheffield?” Rogers piped up, all hesitant and drawn, neither Tony nor Anita bought the act.</p><p>“Yes?” Anita said.</p><p>“Shouldn’t Tony be here for whatever this meeting is? He is part of my team, after all.”</p><p>Anita, bless her soul, made a whole show of looking through the paperwork on her tablet before meeting Rogers eyes with an apologetic tilt of her head, “I’m sorry, Mr Rogers, but it appears you’ve been misinformed. Dr Stark is not a part of your team.”</p><p>Rogers head swung around to meet Tony’s unimpressed gaze, “Tony, you retired?”</p><p>“Mr Rogers,” Anita interrupted, “Dr Stark is registered under Col. Rhodes team, where he has been serving for the past two years. And, as there is no evidence of transfer paperwork, that is where he’ll be staying.”</p><p>“But –“</p><p>“I’m Sorry, I’m afraid I have to cut this…” Tony waved his hand vaguely in the direction of all the rouges, “Whatever this is, short, but I’ve got a date to get to.”</p><p>Maximoff snorted, “What? Did you finally toss Potts to the curb?”</p><p>Tony narrowed his eyes, “Not that its any of your business, but I have a date with my <em>wife</em> this evening – and I’m not wasting any more of it talking to the likes of <em>you</em>. Thank you for taking them off my hands, Agent Sheffield, it’s been a delight, as always.”</p><p>“Likewise, Dr Stark.”</p><p>Tony had spun on his heels before any of the rouges could get another word in.</p><p>“Friday?”</p><p>“Yes, Boss.”</p><p>“Send agent Sheffield an apology gift basket – one with lots of alcohol, and maybe something for headaches.”</p><p>“Already done.”</p><p>Tony smiled, Friday was improving in leaps and bounds every day, he couldn’t help but feel like a proud father – even if none of his kids were actually his kids. Abigale and May had both laughed at the idea of giving up their guardianship of their boys – which Tony totally understood because you’d have to be an idiot to not want to hold onto Peter and Harley – and his AI babies weren’t exactly human. But he loved all of them just the same.</p><p>“Good job, Friday.”</p><p>“Really, boss.” The joy in her voice was palpable. Jarvis had been like this too, in the beginning, he'd needed affirmation around every corner and Tony had always been delighted to give it. Eventually Friday would grow confident in her abilities, just like her brother, Tony thought he might cry when the day finally came.</p><p>“Yeah, Fri.”</p><p>He really, really pitied Anita right about now. He would not want to be the one to inform the rouges – pretentious, stuck up assholes they were – about the budget cuts and the new rules of their continued stay in the US.</p><p>The second he got outside the compound he had the nano suit plastered onto his body. He couldn’t get away from them fast enough.</p><p>A alert popped up on the side of his view.</p><p>
  <em>Incoming call: King Kitty</em>
</p><p>“Anthony,” The king greeted, “How did the meeting go?”</p><p>“Well enough, they only insulted me twice.” Tony shrugged, even if T’challa couldn’t see it, then grinned, “How does it feel to have finally gotten rid of the mice in your castle?”</p><p>“<em>Wonderful</em>.”</p><p>Tony snorted, “I know the feeling.”</p><p>“The Dora are exceedingly pleased as well.”</p><p>“Say, how would you feel about having a bit of a celebration? The world might end but we’re both free of the rouges.”</p><p>“That sounds excellent, Anthony. Shuri will be delighted to see your sons again.”</p><p>“Yeah, the boys never shut up about her either.” He huffed a laugh.</p><p>“Maybe next week?’</p><p>“I’ll check with Pepper and let you know.”</p><p>“I will see you then.”</p><p>“See you, your royal kittieness.”</p><p>T’challa’s bubble of laughter was the last thing he heard before he ended the call.</p><p> </p><p>They’d won.</p><p>Their goddamn crazy, last minute plan had gone to shit the second they’d stepped on the battlefield but fuck –</p><p>They’d <em>won</em>.</p><p>As the days had drawn nearer to Thanos estimated arrival time the rouges had seemed to get more and more instant with demanding a meeting with Tony. Thankfully, they’d gathered enough distaste and everyone was oh so busy anyway – so no one ever really pushed for the meeting to happen.</p><p>Tony had just taken to having Friday tell him the best possible route to avoid the bloody leeches.</p><p>He couldn’t avoid them indefinitely, he wasn’t stupid, one way or another they’d all end up in a room together – almost certainly there’d be screaming and fighting involved. That didn’t mean he couldn’t try to prolong the inevitable as much as he could.</p><p>The good captain, however, was nothing if not fucking persistent.</p><p>
  <em>Even if the whole world is telling you to move, it is your duty to plant yourself like a tree, look them in the eye, and say 'No, you move'.”</em>
</p><p>Yeah, aunt Peggy had told Tony inspirational quotes as well. As a kid with a socialite of a mother who tried her best but was in the Alps more than she was at home and a father who wasn’t there period – he’d idolised his aunt Peggy and taken her words as gospel.</p><p>Everyone at his university, save his Rhodey-bear of course, wanted him gone and he flourished anyway. The board thought him a drunk and a fool, he turned Stark industries from a million dollar gun company to a multi-billion dollar technological empire. Nobody thought he’d make it as a superhero, so Tony saved the world. <em>Twice</em>.</p><p>But Rogers <em>really</em> took it to a whole other level – it pissed Tony off to no end, though, that he completely ignored the prelude to aunt Peggy’s favourite quote.</p><p>
  <em>Compromise where you can.</em>
</p><p>Tony had been forced to slow down at M.I.T, both by Rhodey and a school mandated counsellor, and he could see now that it was the only reason he hadn’t popped a blood vessel in his brain from stress all those years ago. He’d had to actually put in the work to turn the company around, had to learn the terms and the stocks and a lot of politics. But Tony had played by <em>their</em> rules – and he’d won.</p><p>
  <em>Compromise where you can.</em>
</p><p>He refused to stop being Ironman, that was the point on which he would not move. But the people were speaking, not faceless governments with agendas or whatever the hell Rogers was on about. The polls were in and hashtags were trending – the Avengers no longer made them feel safe. They wanted rules, accountability, stability.</p><p>
  <em>Compromise where you can.</em>
</p><p>The captain didn’t know the meaning of the word. Even now, with the threat to end all threats knocking on earths front door, he was still an uncompromising asshole.</p><p>“Tony, you can’t expect us to go on the field with substandard equipment!”</p><p>They had trapped him in a meeting hall of all places, then taken turns shouting at him about one unfairness after another. Romanoff wanted upgrades to her widow bites. Barton wanted new arrows. Maximoff just kind of screamed about her parents. It always seemed to come back to the fact that Tony was no longer acting as their resident sugar daddy.</p><p>“I’ve told you a million times, Rogers. I’ve had to equip thousands of people in the very short timespan of a year and a half – many of those people have specific mutations or abilities that need to be factored into the design of the suit. I don’t have <em>time</em> to iron out every little itchy stitch of your Kevlar. I don’t have time for <em>this.</em> Period.”</p><p>“This is not something we can compromise on.” His voice was steely and unbelievably annoying. It triggered a sort of fight or fight response in Tony’s very soul.</p><p>“You’ve never compromised on anything in your fucking life.” Tony spat.</p><p>Rogers looked, honest to god, offended as he puffed his chest out in an attempt at intimidation, “Even if the whole world is telling you to move –“</p><p>“Yeah, yeah. Plant yourself like a tree, I’ve heard it before.”</p><p>“But – how?” Rogers spluttered.</p><p>“I know age affects the memory but do try to recall that Peggy Carter lived after you went into the ice.”</p><p>“I know that,” He said icily, “But what does that have to do with you?”</p><p>“Aunt Peggy used to tell Sharon and I that quote literally all the time.”</p><p>“Aunt Peggy?”</p><p>“Like I said, Rogers, she lived a life – and I have no time, nor do I care to, explain it to you.”</p><p>And then Tony walked away. Leaving Rogers in his stunned silence, the rest of the rouges keeping silent out of self-preservation or shock – he didn’t know nor care.</p><p>A week later Thanos arrived on earth.</p><p>He’d been a hundred miles away from the rouges, scrapping together a half a plan because they were supposed to have at least another five months. The wizards we’re gearing up to teleport all the teams to Wakanda – where the gigantic space ship seemed to be heading for – and everyone had been throwing their suits on.</p><p>Tony had kissed pepper before their nano suits built up around them.</p><p>And then they’d fought. Every mutant, super, and soldier on earth willing to fight did. Weapons lining the palace walls that Tony had upgraded months ago were firing heavy blasts into hull of the ship, sending debris flying into the fray and causing the entire thing to tilt heavily to the left.</p><p>In the end, Thanos had died by Loki’s hand.</p><p>The mad titan had been chuckling, Thor’s axe embedded firmly in his chest,  with the god of thunder looking horrified.</p><p>“You should have gone for the head.”</p><p>“Noted.”</p><p>Loki separated Thanos’s head from his neck with one incredibly hard swing of a large obsidian coloured sword.</p><p>Thor of course was absolutely overjoyed to see his once again not dead brother. The rest of them were cautiously optimistic – the enemy of my enemy is my friend, after all. But what happens when your enemy is lying headless on the floor.</p><p>The wizards took the infinity stones. Each one trusted to a single sorcerer who hid them in the farthest regions of the universe that magic could reach, then the sorcerer in question had the information wiped from their mind. Loki had slipped the time stone from Stephans neck and tucked it into a fold in one of the branches of Yggdrasil.</p><p>Strange had dropped Loki into a portal for a good seven hours in retaliation.</p><p>Tony had decidedly <em>not</em> commented on the weird magical foreplay.</p><p>There had been casualties, of course, but nobody Tony was personally close to. And though he mourned with the families of the fallen and would do everything in his power to ease their suffering, he couldn’t help but be selfishly grateful he wasn’t one of them.</p><p>Rogers had tried to talk to him after, tried to rekindle their bond of – what was it Thor had called it, ah yes, shield brothers.</p><p>Pepper had seen his pinched face and strutted right over, grabbing his face and pulling him in for a filthy kiss that earned them a symphony of hoots and catcalls. She didn’t let him go until she was sure Rogers had slinked away, ever uncomfortable with public displays of affection.</p><p>“Have I mentioned I love you, Mrs Stark.”</p><p>Pepper smiled, “Once or twice, Mr Stark.”</p><p>“Mr Stark! Mrs Stark!” Peter shouted, scrambling over to them with a small metallic thing in hand. “I got it to work!”</p><p>And as Peter rambled over the intricacies of his latest brilliant invention and his wife listened with a smile, suggesting marketing techniques and production costs the moment the boy gave her a chance to, Tony thought back to that cave.</p><p>
  <em>Don’t waste it. Don’t waste your life, Stark.</em>
</p><p>He didn’t.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>How was it? let me know if you spotted any grammar screw ups pls and thanks babes!! thank you so much for reading &lt;33</p></blockquote></div></div>
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